PLASDEN
157
PLASENCIA
grows amidst ruins (Is.,xxiv, 13), in fallow-lands (Osee,
ix; 6), with lilies (Cant., ii, 2), and in fields where it is
harmful to corn (Job, xxxi, 40), all which features suit
well the various kinds of thistles {Carduiis pycno-
cephahis, C. argentatus, Circium lanceolatum, C. ar-
vense, Attradilis comosa, Carthamus oxyacantha, Sco-
lymus maculatus), most abundant in Palestine; (5)
sirim, the various star-thistles, or perhaps the thorny
Ijurnet, plentiful in ruins; (6) sirpad, from the Greek
rendering, probably the elecampane. Inula viscosa,
common on the hills of the Holy Land; (7) qimmesh-
onim, see Nellies; (8) shayilh and (9) shamir, see
Briers.
Thorns, used in the English Bibles to designate plants like thistles, also includes thorny plants, such as: (1) 'alad, see Bramble; (2) mesukah, the general name given to a hedge of any kind of thorny shrubs; (3) na'acuf, see Shrub; (4) sillon (cf. Arab.sufa), some kind of strong thorns; (5) sarabhim, tangled thorns forming thickets impossible to clear; (6) pnnim, an unidentified thorny plant; (7) gof, a generic word for thorny bushes; (S) sikkim (cf. Arab, shauk), also a generic name.
Thyine wood, probably Thuya arliculata, Desf., especially in Apoc, xviii, 12. See Algum.
Turpentine tree. See Terebinth.
Vetches (D. V., Is., xxviii, 25). See Filches.
Vine, the ordinary grape-vine, Vilis vinifera, of which many varieties are cultivated and thrive in the Holy Land. In Old Testament times vine and wine were so important and popular that in it they are constantly mentioned and alluded to, and a relatively large vocabularj^ was devoted to expressing varieties of plants and produce. In Ezech . , xv, 6, Heb . fa/fo/a/j is rendered "vine", see Willow.
Vine, Wild (IV Kings, iv, 39), probably a wild gourd-vine, most likely the ColocjTith.
Vine of Sodom (Deut., xxxii, 32), possibly the well known shrub, "Apple of Sodom", Calotropis procera, Willd., which peculiar plant grows round the Dead Sea and produces a fruit of the size of an apple, and "fair to behold", which bursts when touched and con- tains only white silky tufts and small seeds, "dust and ashes" (Josephus).
Walnut. See Nut.
Water-mint. See Mint.
Wheat, from Heb. bar and dagan, also translated "corn" and appUcable to all cereals, is properly in Heb. khitlah (cf. Arab, khintah), of which two varieties are especially cultivated in Palestine: Trilicum a:sti- vum, summer wheat, and T. hybernum, winter wheat; the harvest takes place from May (Ghor) to June (highlands). Corn is threshed by cattle or pressed out with a sledge, and winnowed with a shovel, by throwing the grain against the wind on threshing floors upon breezy hills.
Willow. (1) Heb. ^afqafah (A. V., Ezech., xvii, 5; D. v., "vine"), Arab, so/sa/, probably willow though some prefer Elceagnus hortensis. Marsh., from Arab, zaiza- fun. (2) Heb. 'arabim (Lev., xxiii, 40; Job, xl, 17; Ps. cxxxvi, 2, A. V. cxxxvii; Is., xUv, 4), like Arab. gharah, hence the willow. 'Arabim, used only in the plur., probably designates all willows in general {Salix safsaf, S. alba, S. fragilis, S. babylonica, or weeping willo%v, are frequent in the Palestinian Wadys), whereas (afgafah may point out some particular spe- cies possibly the weeping willow.
Wheel (Ps. lx.xxii, 14) probably refers to some kind of Cenlaurea, as does "whirlwind" (Is., x\'ii, 13).
Wormwood, Heb. la'anah (Apoc, viii, 11), plants of the genus Artemisia, several species of which {A. monosperma, Del., A. herba-alba, Asso., A. jiidaica, A. annua, A. arborescens) are common in Palestine, notably on tablelands and in deserts. The charac- teristic bitterness of the Artemisias, coupled with their usual dreariness of habitat, aptly t>-pified for Eastern minds calamity, injustice, and the evil results of sin.
B.<.LFOUR, The Plants of Ihe Bible (.London.l8&5):'Bo-SA-n.i., The
Flora of the Assyrian Monuments and its Outcomes (Westminster,
1894) ; Duns, Biblical Natural Science, being the expl. of all refers
ences in Holy Scripture to geology, botany, etc. (London, 1863-5) ;
Gkoseb, The Trees and Plants mentioned in the Bible (London,
1895) ; Hooker and Tristram, Plants of the Bible, with the chief
allusions collected and explained in Aids to the Student of the Holy
Bible (London) ; Knight, Bible Plants and jinimals (London,
1S89) ; Post, Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai, from the Taurus
to the Ras Muhammad, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Syrian
desert (Beirut, 1896) ; Smith, Bible Plants, their history, with a re-
view of the opinions of various writers regarding their identification
(London, 1878) ; Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible (Lon-
don. 1889); Idem. The Fauna and Flora of Palestine (London,
1884) ; Zelleh, Wild Flowers of the Holy Land (London, 1876) ;
BoisslER, Flora Orientalis (Bale and Geneva, 1867-88) ; Celsius,
Hierohotanicon, sine de plantis Sacra: Scripturce dissertationes breves
(Upsala, 1745-7); Forskal, Flora £gyptiaco-Arabica (Copen-
hagen, 1776) ; HiLLER, Hierophyticon, sive Commentarius in loca
Scriptura; Sacrts qua; plantarum faciunl mentionem (Treves, 1725);
Lemnius, Similitudinum ac parabolarum, quw in Bibliis ex herbis
desumuntur, dilucida explicatio (Frankfort, 1626) ; Linne, Flora
Palestime (Upsala, 1756); Ursinus, Arboretum biblicum (Nurem-
berg. 1699); Idem, Arboreti biblici continuatio (Nuremberg, 1699);
Cultrera, Botanique biblique (Geneva, 1861); Filuon, Atlas
d'hisloire naturelle de la Bible (Paris, 1884); Gandooer, Plantea
de Judee in Bulletin de la Societe botanique de France, XXXIII,
XXXV, XXXVI (Paris); Idem, articles on several plants in
ViGOUROux. Dictionnaire tie la Bible (Paris, 1895 — ) ; Hamilton,
La botanique de la Bible (Nice, 1871) ; Levesque, articles on vari-
ous plants in Vig., Diet. Bibl.^ Loret, La flore pharaonigue,
d'apr^s les documents hieroglyphiques et les specimens decouverts
dans les tombes (Paris, 1892) ; FONCK, Streifzuge durch die Biblische
Flora (Freiburg. 1900); KiNZLER, Biblische Naturgesch. (Calw
and Stuttgart, 1884) ; Low, Aramdische Pflanzennamen (Leipzig,
1881); Oedm.\nn, Vermischte Sammlungen aus der Naturkunde
zur Erkl&rung der Heiligen Schrift (Leipzig, 1786-95): Rosen-
MULLER, Handbuch der Biblischen Altertumskunde, IV, 1: Bi-
blische Naturgesch. (Leipzig, 1830); Woenig, Die Pftanzen im
alien jEgypten (Leipzig, 1886); Cultrera, Flora Biblica, ovvero
spiegazione delle plante menzionate nella Sacra Scrittura (Palermo,
1861).
Charles L. Souvat.
Plasden, Polydore, Venerable. See White, Eustace, Venerable.
Flasencia, Diocese of (Placentina), comprises the civil provinces of Cdceres, Salamanca, and Bada- joz. Its capital has a population of 8044. The city of Plasencia was founded by Alfonso VIII on the site of Ambroz, which he had conquered from the Moors. He gave it the name of Placentia, "that it may be pleasing to God and man" (ut Deo placeat et homini- bus), and sought to have it made a see by the pope, which Clement III did in 1189. In 1190, the see was occupied by Bricio and, at his death in 1211, by Do- mingo, a native of Beja, who was more warrior than shepherd, fighting at Las Navas de Tolosa at the head of the men of Plasencia, and subsequently directing his movements against Jaen, conquering Priego, Doja, Montejo, and other towns. He assisted at the Lat- eran Council of 1215, with Archbishop Rodrigo Jime- nez de Rada, whom he served as vicar when the archbishop became legate in Spain. Dying in 1235, Domingo was succeeded by Adan, third Bishop of Pla- sencia, a no less warlike prelate, who with four other bishops accompanied St. Ferdinand to the conquest of C6rdoba, where the five consecrated the mosque as a Christian cathedral. His successors, Ximeno Simon, and two Pedros, devoted themselves mainly to the government of their diocese; Juan Alonso assisted at the Cortes of 1288, where he obtained from Sancho confirmation of the privileges already granted to Plasencia. His successor Diego spent much time at Valladolid with the king.
The cathedral was originally built on a lofty site, near the citadel, afterwards occupied by the Church of St. Vincent the IMartyr. then by that of St. Anne and lastly by the Jesuit college, now an almshouse. An- other cathedral was begun early in the fourteenth cen- tury; this edifice, in the Early Spanish Gothic style, is now the pari.sh church of Santa Maria. At the end of its cloister are seen the arms of Bi.>ihop Gonzalo de Sta. Maria, in whose time the cloister was finished, and the first solemn procession was held there, 26 March, 1348. This cathedral had hardly been built when it began to seem too poor for the see — one of the richest in Spain. In 1498, in the episcopate of Gutierre Alvarez do Toledo,
